


[Hiatus] Your Friendly Neighbourhood Wizard.

by idealistic_imaginings



Category: Wizards of Waverly Place
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Brother/Sister Incest, Consanguinamory, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Female Character of Color, Fluff, Friendship, Humour, Hurt/Comfort, I promise youll love them, Jalex - Freeform, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Female Character, Lets Hope So, Love, Magic, Own Characters - Freeform, Romance, Secret Identity, Self Growth, Self-Reflection, Sibling Incest, Superhero! Alex, They play major parts in Alex's development, They're my little creations, is she gonna finish the fic, more than just Jalex, please support, secret superhero, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:02:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24105619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idealistic_imaginings/pseuds/idealistic_imaginings
Summary: After defeating the dark angels, Justin continues to teach his delinquent class unconsciously suppressing his guilt over the ramifications of the moral compass. Simultaneously, Alex unconventionally stumbles into a superhero gig. Inept and unprepared, great power and an even greater burden is placed on her shoulders. Bothered by his sisters reoccurring absence, Justin determinedly investigates her distant behaviour. Meanwhile, Alex is forced to face a truth she’d always buried, discovering it unwillingly from a being far more powerful than herself.
Relationships: Alex Russo & Justin Russo, Alex Russo/Justin Russo
Comments: 3
Kudos: 20





	1. Prologue

**Disclaimer/Author's Note:** I’ve been brainstorming this fic probably since quarantine started. It’s mostly inspired by Spiderman! Into the Spiderverse, Holland! Spiderman and Garfield! Spiderman and Spider-man PS4 ('cause I played the game and holy shit it was phenomenal). As well as the looks and feel of DC Comic’s Raven and Marvel’s Scarlet Witch. Other inspirations include music from Birds of Prey, On My Block, Euphoria. All of which I do not own. In addition, I sadly do not own Wizards of Waverly Place. However, Alex’s origin story is wholly my own that I personally thought up myself (so let’s hope it’s believable) and if it correlates with any other superhero storyline it’s purely coincidental. The OC’s are also obviously my own creation. **(Cross posted on Fanfiction.net)**

 **Pairing:** Superhero! Alex Russo x Justin Russo, Slowburn.

 **Genre:** Action, Humour, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Romance

 **Warnings:** Mild/Explicit Language, Injuries, Sister/Brother Incest.

 **Set:** After "Wizards Vs. Angels" (Which is somewhat heavily involved in both Alex and Justin’s separate storylines.) + “Back to Max”.

 **WC of Prologue:** 3,798

Moodboard ([2](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.ca%2Fpin%2F600878775273179666%2F&t=MGM2NzM3ODNmZjRlZGFiYzI1YmU2N2RjZDExZDViMDI1NjI4NTg4MSxiYTZhZTJlNmIyM2E2MmFjZGYzYWVjNzc1MDQ3MzY4ZDRjNWU5OTk2), [3](https://idealistic-imaginings.tumblr.com/post/612994626762276864), [4](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.ca%2Fpin%2F600878775273179923%2F&t=ZDkyOTFiNWI2ZGYyZGUwNGUxNDc0MzAxMmNhMWE4OTJkY2M1ZjZkMiw4YjIyYmFkOGY2N2FjMGMwNmZkYzAxYzY0ZDA0OTY4MmIzNThmZDZk), [6](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.artstation.com%2Fartwork%2F2nRAK&t=NjcxZWJkMTkwMzM3NmNmODFlNjhhMjRkN2VkYTllNTEyMTVlYmVmZSw4Yzk5NmViYmZmNGQ2ZmUzZGEwZDMyODhlOTg1MDNjZWE3MzY2NjFi), [7](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.deviantart.com%2Fgreeendude%2Fart%2FNevermore-606927591&t=MWUxMmU1ZTdkZDkyMTE0OWEzNTE1OTljMjJhZjUzNDYyN2QxZGY1ZixiMzNiZmRlMjBjYmEzMjZiYTc5YmQ3YTRhNmU3ODg0NWE5NjJiZjFj), [9](https://captainamericons.tumblr.com/tagged/scarlet-witch-icons))

* * *

**Prologue**

“Do you know why you’re here, Alex Russo?” 

“Umm…” Alex leaned back at the man’s intense stare. She was pretty sure he was going for intimidation, but it fell short, landing right on uncomfortable. “Not really…”

“Well, young lady…” His words were layered thick with haughtiness. Alex had just met the man today, and she already knew she disliked him. “It seems you were part of a riot in Central Park.” 

“No…” she narrowed her eyes at him, shook her head, and even elongated the word to get it through his thick skull. “I was trying to get home.” 

She was actually trying to find her wand, but he didn’t need to know that. The wand that Rosie and Gorog flung off the dark realm tower. The detailed image of it glowing magic in the night sky as it twirled to its doom stayed seared to the front of her mind. _My wand,_ she had cried for it as everyone watched it go _._

“So what were you doing in Central Park?” Right after returning the moral compass she searched Central Park assuming it had landed there. Key word: assuming. It was hard to calculate where objects falling off towers landed. For Alex, it was hard to calculate in general. 

“A girl can’t go to one of New York City’s finest parks just for the fuc- fun of it.” She replied with a smile, catching herself before she swore. It was just her luck to get the arrogant, novice, goody-two-shoes, by-the-book cop. They didn’t enjoy it when she did that.

“And you just happened to be hanging out with an enraged mob?” He asked mockingly. Okay, so... she got mixed up in a riot. Which wasn’t her fault. She was too focused on the task at hand to pay any attention to the crowd of screaming people she had walked through. What was more concerning was that one of those fuckers was stepping all over her wand, or worse, one of them had already snapped its cherry redness in two. 

“I wasn’t hanging out with them-"

“Yes, instead you were disturbing the peace and provoking assaults.” Alex had to stay low to the ground for any sign of her wand, which perhaps caused a few people to accidentally trip over her. There was also a minor possibility that her assertive bumping into others unintentionally started some fights. This all lead to Richard here (according to his desk tag), cuffing her and bringing her to the NYPD Central Park precinct. Meaning her wand had been left behind, defenceless against the grimy boots of crabby New Yorkers... if it was even there to begin with.

“How do you disturb the peace in a riot?” Alex fired back. 

“Ms. Russo, you’ve had a record since you were twelve.” he said, abruptly switching topics and ignoring her. _Rude much._ To prove his point, he made a show of flailing her folder around. It was a decent size for her age, Alex inwardly complimented herself. The first crime listed there was in the Summer of 2004, when she sold those fake broadway tickets to unsuspecting tourists. That summer was a blast: hundreds of ice cream sandwiches and magazines.

“This behaviour is to be expected.” He finished as Alex suppressed an eye roll. This dude was getting on her nerves. Yes, she had a few run-ins with the cops, but that didn’t mean she was always guilty of doing something vaguely illegal. Ever since she became a wizard, she’d barely caused any trouble with the mortals, Alex commended herself. Her last record was a good year ago, with a little vandalism and conning going under the radar, but that was it. In their eyes, she could have set herself straight since then. _Which she did…?_

What happened to the benefit of the doubt, what happened to believing people could change. Screw him and his patterns. And screw her wand for not being in Central Park. Now she’d have to buy a new one. She sulked, slouching lower in the hard chair.

“I don’t like your attitude, Missy.” he said, noting her behaviour. “Kids these days, not respecting the police.”

_Oh my gosh, I just want to go home._

Richard Owens ( _what a lame name_ ) continued typing at his computer, probably adding ‘riot starter’ to her record. He’d been holding her here for an hour now, still trying to gather evidence and witness accounts to file in her record. So far he had zero, zip, nada, not a single thing. Since everyone’s memory seemed to be fuzzy, which she guessed was due to the moral compass.

Alex was annoyed at him and his cockiness. Annoyed at this hard chair that was making her butt fall asleep. Annoyed at the amount of people in this room, and how overly hot it was. Would it kill them to crack open a window or turn up the air conditioning?

“Is that you, Alex Russo?” A woman said, approaching the desk. _Oh, finally her saviour._

“Wassup, June!” Alex grinned up at Song Namjoo, or June, as Alex called her. Much to Namjoo’s displeasure. Not so much the name as it was Alex being an annoying little shit. 

“What d’you do now?” she asked, placing a hand behind Alex’s chair, leaning forward to scan over the computer. The woman had her hair pulled down into its signature low bun, not a hair out of place. Her pristine police sergeant uniform was pressed to perfection with not a single crease, something Justin would greatly admire.

“No way, June, you passed your Police Sergeant Exam!” Alex exclaimed. “You look dope.” She nodded in approval.

“Yeah.” June modeled for a second, before straightening her posture. “Passed about six months ago.”

“Well, congratulations.” Alex smiled, genuinely proud. June was her life saver, and low key pain in her ass. Wherever she caused a ruckus (exclusively non magical) June would shortly be there. June had stopped a lot of unwanted things from going on her record and also had a way of calming down Jerry and Theresa when they threatened to send her to the Airforce. On the other hand, it’s like she had some sort of Alex specific third eye, always managing to catch her in the act. Plus, her lectures were lengthy and boring and she didn’t even allow Alex the option to sleep through them. In a way, she was Justin, if he were in the police force and was, you know, a Korean woman. 

She shivered at the thought. Sure, Justin saved her a few too many times, but that was because he was her brother. June was altruistic. She held herself with poise and grace. Like a cool aunt who’d let you off the hook halfway, then let you decide for yourself the rest of the way. Besides, June was high-key a badass and Justin still cried over ‘Mantooth’. 

She felt a light pinch on her arm, automatically ready to shout ‘POLICE BRUTALITY!’ catching herself as she connected eyes with June.

June subtly raised an eyebrow in question towards Alex as if to say, ‘What did you do now?’ Alex shrugged in response, her face saying ‘I’m innocent, I swear’. June in turn gave her a half believing/half disbelieving expression, before rolling her eyes. Which was always code for ‘Fine, I believe you.’ After knowing June for a good 5 years, they’d learned to read each other’s facial expressions pretty well. It helped with her record, it definitely helped with the parents.

“Okay, really Richard? A riot starter.” June stared at the man with clear judgement on her face. “Leave the girl alone. We have bigger things to worry about.”

“Oh, like what, June?” Richard goaded. First he disrespects her, and now June. Alex doesn’t know a lot of things she will admit, but she picked up on workplace professionalism. June was a higher-ranking officer, meaning she was above him. Richard saying her name without its formal title was a complete lack of respect. Alex watched as June’s expression turned perplexed, or more accurately her ‘bitch, what did you just say?’ look. Alex wished she had popcorn now and a comfy chair.

“First of all, that is Sergeant Song to you Richard. Secondly, maybe you’ve been on desk duty for too long, but we’re dealing with a lot more than riots,” June started. _This was going to be good._ “There have been innumerable cases of aggravated assaults, burglaries, thefts, property crimes, arsons, and attempted murders. The crime rate has exponentially increased on this day alone. It’s worse than the 80s, Richard.” As the venom dripped from June’s mouth, Alex was quickly realizing what truly happened this night. “Every precinct in New York is packed to the brim and every hospital too. There are more citizens than staff members. And to top it off, a lot of these people had no previous record before this night. No explanation why they would do this, and barely any remembrance of what they did. Not even a full moon could explain this utter fuckery!” she exclaimed, motioning around the precinct. 

Alex cringed, knowing exactly what had caused this, or more accurately who. She didn’t realize how serious turning that moral compass was. It had only felt like a game of tug a war with her brother, like what they did as kids. She even played around with him, tricking him into thinking he had broken the thing so she’d gain the upper hand. When they were flying above the dark realm tower, pulling and pushing they felt so far removed from the world. It was literal child’s play, no throwing punches, no broken bones just like a high school grip test. 

But she could see the damage they caused now. The place was overfilled with people. At each desk, in the cells, standing around. Some bleeding out, others with lost expressions on their faces. The ones she couldn’t even look at were the people crying. All these people had done something bad or suffered because of it. All because that moral compass pointed in the wrong direction a little too long. 

“And out of everyone in that riot you chose the person farthest from the action, a clear bystander.” Alex wanted to laugh bitterly at that. If only these people knew just how involved she really was in this. If only they knew their desire to do good relied on a floppy arrow on a disk. But, she’d never tell them this, she’d let people continue to believe they had a bigger choice in their lives. That’s what she had to do as a wizard. As long as it saved her ass. As long as it didn’t affect her. 

“So yes, Richard, there are bigger things than a 17-year-old girl,” June finished. The room was completely silent, all eyes staring at Richard. It was so quiet Alex could hear the sound of Richard’s ego deflating like a balloon, his face turning as red as a tomato until he resembled a sheepish boy who had just been scolded by his mom in front of all his friends. She couldn’t even take pleasure in his pain, now faced with her own mistakes.

 _Ha, take that dick._ She tried to lighten her spirits. _Cause like dick is the nickname for Richard._ It didn’t work that well.

And…

Richard let her go with no new record of ‘inciting a riot’, all thanks to June and how she completely dragged him through the mud.

June walked her to the front door of the precinct, stopping at the door.

“Okay bye Alex. I wish I didn’t have to say this…” June said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes to ground herself. “See you soon.” She gave a fake smile.

“You know me so well, June. I’ll be sure to bring my best stuff next time, though,” Alex smiled cheekily, keeping her humour up. She was still a little unsettled at the amount of people she saw on her way out.

“Aha,” June laughed drily, clearly not amused. “Stay in school, kid.” And then she was promptly pushed out of the building.

Just as Alex took her first steps away from the precinct, “Hey! The streets are worse tonight. Stay safe, Alex.” June shouted before shutting the door.

Alex looked back, a sigh heavy on her lips. She composed herself, her mood quickly lightening at the prospect of going home. Which meant her bed, which meant lying down, which meant sleep.

She wouldn’t walk, of course. Use magic, definitely. If someone thought she was going to walk home, they were sadly mistaken. 

Looking around to see if anyone was watching, she backed into the nearest alley. 

“Woah, watch out kid!-”

She was pushed with brute force into the alley wall. _Are you kidding me?_ She smacked right into the bricks, her elbows preventing her face from getting smashed. _Hadn’t she been jostled enough today?_ She stiffened as she felt a bolt of magic graze past her, causing the hairs on her arms to stand up.

Wait a minute… Magic? There was a wizard. 

She turned around to see a woman in a Kevlar black suit push a man further into the alleyway. The woman threw a punch to the man’s face, a crackle of blue magic extended through her fist causing the man to crash into the wall.

“What the fuck,” Alex whispered. She must have actually hit her head because this couldn’t be real. 

The woman turned to Alex, her dark blue cornrows swinging with the movement. A mask covered half her face, but all Alex could see were her eyes glowing blue in the dark, as if rimmed with the magic. “Leave, now-“

“Watch out!” Alex screamed back, seeing the man getting up already. A bright pulse of white magic extended through his fingertips towards the masked woman, who quickly ducked, dodging it and giving a swift kick to the man’s stomach. 

He was thrown off balance, long enough for the woman to turn to Alex, shooting a burst of blue magic into her direction. 

Alex brought her hand in front of her as if to stop it. _Was this woman trying to kill her?_ She closed her eyes, ready for impact. 

Then opened them to silence and a vast space of whiteness. She was in the wizard portal. The masked lady had teleported her here.

So, the blue magic lady was a wizard and a superhero… and people were still being bad even after the moral compass was returned.

Alex thought about it for a moment. Then with a shrug of her shoulders she brushed it off, beginning to walk to the lair. 

Frankly, Alex was exhausted: her back hurt from flapping those wings, her knees were sore from all the heavy landings she endured with the wings, her arms ached from that tug-a-war contest she had with Justin, her butt was sore from that hard chair, her feet ached from all the walking she did and she nearly got zapped in the face with magic. On top of all of that, she still didn’t know where her wand went.

Alex sighed in relief when she finally got to the lair. All that walking was making her even more tired. She pushed the door open, determined to get to bed and collapse. But her steps faltered when she was greeted by the sight of her brother looking down at a white feather.

It didn’t take a genius to realize the feather was Rosie’s. Alex was worried at the sight of him. Grasping a feather from _another_ lost love wasn’t a good sign. And more than that, he hadn’t been himself for the past week and she’d barely talked to him, so she was nervous to see how he was after everything.

“Justin…” she began, confusion laced in her tone. He turned at her voice. “What are you doing still up? It’s late.” And also past his appointed bedtime. 

“I stayed up because I owe you something.” Her cherry red wand in his hand. Her glorious cherry red wand she’d been looking everywhere for. Finally, reunited with what had been plaguing her mind all night, her eyes immediately brightened at the sight of it. She grasped at it with both hands, smiling down at her wand.

“I found it in Washington Square Park.” Oh, Washington Square Park. Damn, she really did suck at calculating. Nevermind, the fact that it was in the complete opposite direction. “A two-headed dog had it. Pretty sure he didn’t start out that way.”

So her wand was chilling in lower Manhattan with a two-headed dog as she searched the grounds of upper Manhattan, tripping people over and starting fights, and getting caught by the police. She giggled at that, amused with what her night turned into.

“Thank you.” She genuinely meant it. “What about your wand?”

“I, uh…” He held his wand up, inspecting it for a moment just to show her the sad state it was in; snapped in half with duct tape barely holding it together. She laughed at her brother’s antics. Secretly relieved to have him back. Him and even his humour. Yup, he was still Justin. “I’ll find a spell to fix it.”

He set his wand down and turned to face her, an earnest expression on his face. Alex was taken aback by the swift change in atmosphere, the room suddenly feeling more serious. “And I owe you something else.”

He came forward. Her eyes flickered at his movement.

 _Oh, and we’re hugging._

His arms wrapped around her, bending down to rest his chin on her shoulder. He quietly uttered, “Thank you for saving me.” While comfortingly rubbing her back as he always did. Ever since they were children, it was a soothing motion he always did when he hugged her. A distinct movement they could focus on together to calm down. She nodded slightly, silently appreciating the moment. 

“It’s for all the times that you saved me when I wasn’t so good.” 

Countless images were brought to mind, most prominent of all: a campfire in the rainforest. She felt nostalgic and a bit anxious. Not fond of the emotions, she quickly lightened the atmosphere. “And for a couple more times in the future, so we’re even,” she finished with a smile, satisfied with her little joke.

“No, we’re not,” Justin replied, sitting down on the desk beside her. “You saved the world today.” 

She studied him for a moment, silently disagreeing with his words. She was only trying to get him back, everything else, saving the world was secondary to that. 

She’d never admit how anxious she felt seeing Justin so unlike himself: stealing flowers, using magic in public, and stomping on people’s groceries. Just being a jerk. The worst of it was when she revealed Rosie’s true nature. He still chose her, a girl he’d known for less than a month than his own sister. A dark angel, whose values would never align with his own. And when she tried one last desperate time to get him back, he still chose darkness. Only turning good because of that girl. It hurt more than she thought it would.

But Alex had to remind herself of something very important: Justin was the one influenced by dark angels. He wasn’t himself at the time and that scarily some powers are greater than her connection to her brother. So she’d keep it to herself, shove it in the back of her mind like she usually did with all of her emotions, and ignore it, until she’d be forced to confront it.

Instead, she focused on the reassurance she’d gotten when Justin finally came back. How happy she was when he immediately told her to put the moral compass back, in that commanding voice he used when he would clean her messes. The ease she felt now that he was once again right beside her. Like a puzzle piece clicking back into place (and screw him for making her think of boring puzzles). This is where he was meant to be.

She would never say that out loud so she said, “You gave up a girl to protect it,” instead. 

She watched a faraway expression take on his face, familiar to the one he wore in Transylvania when he lost Juliet. He’d lost Rosie now, and a few weeks ago she’d learned she wasn’t meant to be with Mason. It’s like they were both cursed to never have a happy ending. Only ending up with the comfort of each other. 

She didn’t think about how right this felt. Or the strange notion that perhaps this was how her happy ending was supposed to be.

In an attempt to stop herself from wandering too far back in her mind, she asked him. “Why do we have to keep dealing with stuff like this?” He was Justin, and he always had the answer. She could always count on him.

“We’re wizards.” And it was like that was the ‘be all, end all’. “I don’t think we have a choice.” The plain and simple answer.

It was horrible how that answer alone made complete sense to her. How she’d just thought about it in that over packed precinct. All of her mistakes and losses were always tied into being a wizard. 

So, maybe she was past the point of caring, past sadness and moving into delirium with a little sprinkle of dead tiredness because she smiled instead. She smiled up at him and he had caught her before she turned away. Justin bumped her with his shoulder, bouncing her away and back to him. 

They were settling back into their pattern. Just the two of them: Justin and Alex. She sighed contentedly and a little tiredly, resting her head on her big brother’s shoulder, feeling his head rest on hers.

For all her mistakes and all her losses, at least she always had her Justin. 

And she hoped he knew for all his mistakes and all his losses, he’d always have his Alex. 

She closed her eyes, fully ready to sleep.

“We’ll be okay, right?” Justin quietly asked. 

Alex yawned, furrowing her brows slightly at the unexpected question.

Maybe they should have been more aware in this moment, appreciated it more. Maybe she could have helped him better if she’d paid more attention. Maybe he could have protected her better from things darker than angels.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine,” she muttered, relaxing and letting herself fall asleep, knowing Justin would take her to bed.

For Alex would soon face a burden so great it would compromise her relationship with those around her. After all, with great power comes great responsibility.


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being able to turn Max back to normal, Alex and her family settle back into normalcy, and that includes Alex taking every chance she gets to annoy Justin. But things get more tense than she expects. Alex is also starting her final year of high school and she'll need to try to actually graduate. And Max seems to be hung up on the mysterious superhero Alex had encountered.

Alex followed Justin down the spiral staircase. Using all her energy to loudly stomp and glare daggers into his back. He had forced her out of bed and interrupted her much needed 12 hours of sleep, just to tell her to get ready for delinquent class. Ugh.

Irritated, pissed and sleep deprived, Alex decided to retaliate against Justin’s treatment of her. And what better plan then to give him a conniption. She got excited just thinking about him scratching his teeth out. Alex doesn’t remember the last time he had one, and she couldn’t even count the time she’d invited “Ughh” to school because he stopped mid connip. She felt another spike of rage, thinking about how that plan had failed.

She calmed herself down by thinking about the events that transpired this morning. Like when he tried to pull her out of bed and she’d put up a fight complete with kicking and slapping. Or while he was in the shower, how she'd turned the water freezing cold and exchanged his toothpaste with wasabi. She'd even successfully tripped him several times.

And every single time he'd loudly yell 'Alex!' a satisfied smirk would set on her face. Few things had her feeling exhilarated and Justin screaming her name was one of them.

Now as he dragged her down the stairs, she stomped loudly, hoping to disturb his silly routine of calming his mind before delinquent class. Glaring at his back was mostly to relieve her irritation at him. 

As he reached the last steps, she watched stunned as her brother hunched over, groaning in agony. This wasn’t part of her plan but, hey, she loved it. Just as she was about to laugh (because seeing Justin suffer always made her happy), she was hit with a horrible smell. The smell of rotten tomatoes and expired meat.

“Ah, what is that stench?” Alex groaned. She quickly grabbed the side of her wizard robe to cover her nose.

“What are you doing, Max?” Justin asked, exasperation twisting into his words, his nose buried in his elbow. 

Max stood at the dinner table. His hair a mess, noticeable damp patches on his clothes, and a piece of ham stuck to his cheek. As she walked closer to her brother, the smell strengthened. Then she noticed the newspapers spread out in front of him. 

“It’s both of your faults I wasn’t able to see her,” Max grumped out. Both siblings paused at the unfamiliar sight of a grumpy Max. “I just found out Night Fury was the most active that night Justin turned evil and stole the moral compass.” Max continued, not even looking up at his sibling. Alex didn’t see the way Justin stiffened slightly behind her, instead glancing down at the papers.

“Woah, you could have seen her just fine as Maxine.” Justin interjected, quickly recovering.

“Maxine was stuck at some lame slumber party,” Max said, scratching the back of his neck. “And I don’t know man… I didn’t feel like myself when I was her.”

As Alex got a closer look, she discovered that each newspaper was damaged to a certain degree: some were stained with unknown substances, others were wrinkled, and some were ripped slightly.

“Wait. Who’s Night Fury?” Alex asked. 

“She’s a crime fighting superhero. She has, like, blue energy powers.” He placed the paper down to move his hands around in excitement. She took a moment to silently judge her brother before looking down to see a half-page picture of a woman in a dark full body suit, cornrows framing her masked face.

“Wait, a minute-” Alex nearly grabbed the paper ( _ew!_ ) but was able to stop herself. “I saw this girl before.”

“No way you did.” Max radiated excitement.

“Yeah, she shoved me into a brick wall,” Alex grumbled. “So her name is Night Fury…?”

“Yeah. So, was it awesome?” Max asked, his eyes lighting up.

“No, it really hurt my elbows.” She rubbed them, remembering the phantom pain of it. “And I nearly got zapped by magic.” 

“Magic? Is Night Fury a magician!” Her brother truly was on a different wavelength.

“No, Max, obviously she’s a-“

“Okay… but that still doesn’t explain why it stinks so bad.” Justin interjected. 

“Well, I had to search for these newspapers in the dump ’cause people don’t understand how amazing Night Fury is,” Max explained, very matter of fact.

“Okay, dude, that’s ridiculous,” Justin sighed, taking a moment to ask the universe how he was related to his brother. “You do realize you could have just found them online.”

“No. I need the physical copies!” Max grabbed the worst of the bunch, a barely recognizable picture of Night Fury on it. Alex would’ve agreed it was a nice photo, but she couldn’t get past the fact that it was ripped and eaten by an unidentifiable substance in several places. Plus, there was a piece of ham stuck to the corner of it. “This is Night Fury we’re talking about!” he whined.

Then Max picked off a piece of ham from one paper and ate it. She scrunched her nose in disgust before looking away as Justin shook his head in disbelief.

Alex had no idea her brother was so obsessed with this woman. It was almost as bad as Justin and his love for ‘Captain Jim Bob Sherwood.’ (which reminded her: she hadn’t looted Justin’s room in a while now). She had to give Max credit though, Night Fury seemed to be a real person...

“So then just go to the newspaper offices and ask for proper copies of it,” Justin explained in his my-brother’s-an-idiot voice, which Alex could attest sounded pretty similar to his my-sister’s-an-idiot voice.

“Wow, you’re so right, Justin,” Max said in amazement. “I’ll go right now.” And he was already heading for the front door, not bothering to change into clean clothes or clean his mess.

This is the perfect opportunity. She rather spend her day with a stinky Max, then be forced to listen to Justin talk about Wizard history for two hours.

“Oh, sick.” Alex saw her chance, ready to take it. “I’ll come with!” She took one step forward before Justin gripped her arm.

“Not so fast, Alex.” He stared her down. Alex glared back in equal intensity, before letting him drag her down the second set of stairs, much to her protest.

_Ugh, this sucked. Just you wait Justin, I’ll get you back._

* * *

“In today’s lesson, we’ll be learning about...” _Kill me now._

Alex barely listened as Justin droned on and on about the history of Wiztech. Couldn’t they just learn more spells? Justin’s class actually had some fun moments, but she wanted to pull her hair out right now.

Trying to distract herself, she grabbed her wand and twirled it about. Totally ignoring the rule of ‘no touching your wand’ during lessons. Yeah, that one may have been made specifically for her, but she chose not to think about that. Justin’s back was turned to the class, talking in depth about a picture of some old man on the slideshow. 

She fiddled with her wand. Looking up, Justin was still going on and on about the photo. ( _Could he stop, none of us care_ ). She looked at her seatmates: Felix and Taylor; they were both clearly just as uninterested. Felix was staring off into space, while Taylor was tapping her foot impatiently. And they were the front row students, so that was saying something.

“So we’ll have a test next Saturday to make sure you were all listening.” Justin finished. There was a collective groan among the class he seemed to easily ignore as he set up the screen again. “Now, we’ll move on to the next slideshow.”

Alex groaned in annoyance. It was bad enough he made them suffer through one boring slideshow, now he was making them sit through another. Suddenly, she felt a jolt of magic leave her wand. 

“Oh my God!” she gasped as it shot at Justin, promptly lighting his bum on fire. Everyone shot up out of their seats in shock. Justin screamed, twisting around, and running around the room in panic. 

“Someone help me!” he screamed. And since they were delinquents… 15 wizards shot water at him (he really should have expected this) while Alex herself sprayed foam at him.

It was safe to say the fire was out, but everything else was doused in water and foam as well. 

“Alex!” Justin screamed. Alex cringed at his tone, he was so angry. (Yeah, this one didn’t feel as good as the others).

He took a deep steadying breath, then like a good teacher he calmly addressed his other students, “Class dismissed.” And everyone scurried out of the room, for once terrified of their teacher. She kind of wished she could follow them all right now. She turned to her brother, who was glaring daggers at her.

“I know you’re angry…” Alex grimaced, biting her lip and twisting uncomfortably, “but I just want to say I didn’t mean to do this.”

“You’re going to clean all of this up-” Justin hissed.

And before she could stop herself, “Should I clean you too?” 

( _what the fuck Alex_ ).

She closed her eyes when she realized what she just said.

“What!?” Justin sobered for a moment.

“Nothing! Gonna go clean now, aha!” She sidestepped, gesturing for him to ( _please_ ) leave the room.

She exhaled heavily as he left. _Now how am I supposed to clean wet papers?_

* * *

“Alex!!!” Justin screamed. He had just discovered her latest prank and was not too happy about it.

And, _oh fuck,_ she was supposed to get rid of that one after what had happened in delinquent class. But she’d spent so much time drying the papers and mopping the floor, (yes, Alex had actually cleaned up her own mess), that she totally forgot. So she did the most sensible thing: she rushed down the stairs. She wasn’t going to stick around to witness that.

“Bye Mom! Bye Dad!” Alex swiftly kissed both of them on the cheek. Grabbing her brown paper bag of $5 before exiting the sub shop with Harper and Max in tow.

* * *

“What’s up Laritate?” Alex strolled into his office, slouching down in one of the chairs. She’d been called down at the start of seventh period and was happy to get out of class and visit good ol’ Laritate. She just wondered what he found out this time.

“Ms. Russo, you’re probably wondering why I called you to my office.”

“Not really, I kind of was expecting it… So, what d’you find now? The confetti in the janitor’s closet, the rewired mouses in the computer lab, the jelly filled dodge balls.” She promptly burst out in laughter, “Ah… that one’s a classic.” 

“Miss Russo, I didn’t find any of your pranks and I would suggest you get rid of them immediately if you don’t want to get in trouble for them.” he said, his eyes widening in disbelief.

“Oh... Yes Sir, Mr. Laritate!” Alex saluted, quick to appease him.

“But for now, let’s both agree not to think about that. The main point is you only need seven more credits to graduate and, Miss Russo, none of the courses you chose is that.”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked, confused.

“Well, I don’t know how you got the classes you did and I don’t want to be rude, but I’m certain you won’t pass any of them. Some of them you don’t even need. For example, you took AP Biology and a Geology class…” Mr. Laritate trailed off, glancing up at Alex with a confused expression.

“What! Really?” Alex said in disbelief. _Maybe she should start going to classes instead of sneaking off to paint in the underground tunnel._

“So, I’m going to allow you to choose your courses again. Partly because I really would prefer you not stay here for another year." He gave her a pointed look, before taking a seat beside her. Taking a deep breath, he continued, "But, I also believe that you’re smarter than you let on and with a more informed choice you could succeed in all your classes.”

“Thanks Mr. Laritate.” Alex gave a genuine smile. She was honestly touched. She knew she wasn’t the smartest person in the world, nothing like her brother. But it felt amazing to be genuinely complimented about her mind for once. “I won’t let you down.”

* * *

Mr. Laritate had shown her marks, and they weren’t pretty at all.

She was going to ask Justin for help because, well, that’s what she always did. She never realized it before, but Justin had always helped choose her courses every year. Well, more like he just chose for her while she fiddled around beside him. 

Alex walked home from school, trying to build up the courage to confess about her struggle. She doesn’t struggle, well she does, she just doesn’t enjoy admitting it. She didn’t know why she was nervous. She could always go to Justin for help. But the way things had left off, she knew it’d take a bit more persuading for him to help.

* * *

She knocked quietly, then opened the door to see Justin pacing back and forth across his room, deep in thought. 

He paused mid-stride when he noticed her. Arms crossing in defence and a pointed look on his face. “Alex, I don’t want to do this right now,” he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as if she was such a disturbance to him.

“Don’t worry, I come in peace,” Alex chuckled, trying her best to relieve the tension. “So I was wondering if you could help-“

“You think I should help you after you set me on fire! Plus what you did this morning. I get you love messing around but this is my future on the line, so can you just stop. Seriously, Alex, leave me alone.” Justin said. His tone was tired, as if he didn’t have the energy to deal with her. 

“But I kind of need your help…” she cringed. She knew he didn’t owe her any favours, it was the complete opposite in fact. But she also knew Justin could always help her.

“Just so typical of you, Alex.” His smile was sour. “You came here because you expect me to fix your problems just like I always do.” Their eyes met at that, his open with judgment.

“You can’t always expect me to come at your beck and call.” He snapped.

“I never expect you to. I never ask you to. You just do it.” She accused back, seeing Justin flinch at her tone. “And let’s not forget I’ve saved you too.”

“This is different Alex-“

“Yeah, because last time I saved you, I saved the world too. You literally stole the moral compass and turned evil. What? Because of some girl.” She goaded, rolling her eyes. “So, yeah, it is different. Isn’t it?”

Silence enveloped the room. Maybe she’d accidentally crossed a line. Alex had a tendency to do that. She couldn’t help but be blunt. 

“Just go.” He pointed out the door. His features tightened as he looked at her with an unnameable expression.

“What, but I-“

“Go Alex.”

“Fine!” she yelled, boiling in rage. _What was wrong with him? It wasn’t her fault she’d told him the truth._

Alex glared at Justin one last time before leaving the room. A resounding slam of the door signaled the end of their conversation.

* * *

A few minutes later, there was a knock on her door. She tried to ignore the hopeful and horrible expectations that consumed her. Alex learned from a young age to never expect things because whatever she expected to happen never did.

“Hey Alex.” Not who she wanted, but she always had time for her best friend.

“Hey Harper.” Alex smiled, she patted the spot next to her on the fire escape.

The fire escape had always been her little hideaway. It was one of her favourite features to her room. She’d always come out here to watch the city, paint and just relax.

Harper ducked under the window, then made the effort to lug the fabric of her new fairytale dress through too.

Alex smiled in amusement at her friend’s struggle. She grasped a part of the fabric, “I really like this one.”

“Really?! I’ve actually been working on it for a while now, probably one of my favourite pieces.” Harper chippered, bright energy radiating from her as she talked about her passion. She quickly took notice of Alex’s low mood and calmed down. “Is everything alright?”

“It’s nothing. Just got into a fight with Justin…”

“Well, that’s not nothing.” Harper frowned, watching as Alex continued to fiddle with her dress.

They sat in silence. Harper knew to patiently wait for her to speak again.

“I just-” Alex heaved a sigh. “Do you have all your credits for graduating?”

“No, just need six more which I’ve split into this semester and next semester... Uh, why do you ask?”

“Mr. Laritate called me into his office. Said he was concerned about the courses I chose and that I wouldn’t graduate with them. He wants me to choose again, says he’s giving me a second chance and believes that I can graduate if I rethink this whole thing.”

“Wow…” Harper breathed. 

“Yeah, I know. And I’m not sure what to do. I went to Justin… and he practically shut me out, didn’t even allow me to talk,” she sighed in frustration.

“Well, you have been treating him pretty ruthlessly. And he’s been stressed over the Delinquent Class,” Harper reasoned. “You know, maybe you shouldn’t depend on Justin all the time. Or always expect for him to help you out when you’re not very nice to him…”

“Ugh, not you too…” Alex groaned. 

“Just try to cut him some slack, Alex. And that means no more pranking him.” 

“Fine. I’ll calm down…” she sighed, reluctantly.

“In the meantime, I could help you choose your courses,” Harper beamed.

“Really?” Alex asked while Harper nodded.

“I knew there was a reason why I kept you around,” Alex smiled.

“For 12 years?” Harper raised her eyebrow. Alex nodded before bursting into laughter, resting her head against her best friend's shoulder.

* * *

_**Authors Note:** I'd like to thank my lovely beta reader: TwistedWizards (ao3) or TwistedWizardsLover (Fanfiction.net). Thank you for your time and effort. Be sure to check out her stories as well! She's really talented!_

_Long time no update haha. I would say new chapter is coming up soon but I don't want to lie. Life's been quite busy and there are no guarantees you know. But when my schedule clears I'll definitely get back to this. I made a promise to myself I would finish this story and I'm super proud of the plot so I'd really like to fulfill that promise._

_But yeah, hope you enjoyed this one. Thank you for reading! Comments and Kudos are much appreciated!_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
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